Eagle ford fish spine and ribs

[boschwob]

Found this in about a meter of water in the eagle ford formation. I’ve been told it’s most likely a fish from 90-96 million years ago but don’t know the exact species. A chunk of loose vertebrae fell off and I’m not sure if I should attach it back with some sort of adhesive or just leave it.

Sorry for the imperial ruler 🇺🇸🦅

[val horn]

I can not id it but it does look like fish. I would probably not reattach the vertebrae unless you can do it perfectly. The Dallas paleo society may be able to get some id for it.

[boschwob]

18 minutes ago, val horn said:

I can not id it but it does look like fish. I would probably not reattach the vertebrae unless you can do it perfectly. The Dallas paleo society may be able to get some id for it.

Thanks Val. I’ll contact them tomorrow and find out.

[Fossildude19]

Fish verts are not, as far as I know, diagnostic to genus or species.

That said, it is probably from something like Pachyrhizodus sp.

 

@Ptychodus04

[Fin Lover]

Very cool fossil!

[sixgill pete]

Very nice find!

[boschwob]

6 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Fish verts are not, as far as I know, diagnostic to genus or species.

That said, it is probably from something like Pachyrhizodus sp.

 

@Ptychodus04

Thanks for the help. That was in my top 5 suspects.

[boschwob]

6 hours ago, Fin Lover said:

Very cool fossil!

Thank you!

 

[boschwob]

5 hours ago, sixgill pete said:

Very nice find!

Thanks Pete!

[SPrice]

Great fish fossil find!  I would be going right back to that site and looking carefully for more parts of the fish...upstream, downstream, in the bank, etc.  Good luck with the ID!

[boschwob]

Just now, SPrice said:

Great fish fossil find!  I would be going right back to that site and looking carefully for more parts of the fish...upstream, downstream, in the bank, etc.  Good luck with the ID!

Thank you! That’s definitely what I want to be doing but I leave for camp tomorrow morning. The chunk of loose vertebrae fell off while I was bringing it home so I went back the day after to find it.

[Ptychodus04]

I have collected this particular creek for decades (nearly 40 years and I have only run into 1 other collector out there, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who knows about it). Finding fossils in float is common but finding the original location is not. The creek is prone to flash flooding and if seen the banks visibly changed by one event. 
 

I would say it’s possible but not likely that the remainder of the fish is still there somewhere.

 

Without skull or fins, an ID any more specific than bony fish is nothing more than speculation. It could be any number of medium sized fish that are known from the formation. 
 

As for the vert that is loose, you’re not going to hurt anything gluing it back on. I usually prefer Paraloid as an adhesive but in this case, cyanoacrylate would be acceptable. Dry fit the bone so you are sure to get it in the right position, drop a small amount of glue in the depression in the matrix, and stick the vert in place. 

[boschwob]

9 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I have collected this particular creek for decades (nearly 40 years and I have only run into 1 other collector out there, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who knows about it). Finding fossils in float is common but finding the original location is not. The creek is prone to flash flooding and if seen the banks visibly changed by one event. 
 

I would say it’s possible but not likely that the remainder of the fish is still there somewhere.

 

Without skull or fins, an ID any more specific than bony fish is nothing more than speculation. It could be any number of medium sized fish that are known from the formation. 
 

As for the vert that is loose, you’re not going to hurt anything gluing it back on. I usually prefer Paraloid as an adhesive but in this case, cyanoacrylate would be acceptable. Dry fit the bone so you are sure to get it in the right position, drop a small amount of glue in the depression in the matrix, and stick the vert in place. 

Thanks for the info. I do believe the only reason I found it was because of the recent rains. I wouldn’t even call myself a collector but after this I would love to try and maybe we’ll run into eachother.